Changes
by Leaf Silicon
Summary: Everything was peaceful in Neopia, until one day when evil combined forces to overthrow the planet. Now it's up to 2 xweetoks to save their beloved planet from evil, with the help of other heroes of course. Chapter 4 is up! Please READ and REVIEW!
1. Introduction

**Introduction

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In a small house in Tuan Path, Shenkuu lives a young lady who lives with her two Xweetoks: Barry Jun Masuda, and Dawn Hikari Berlitz. The three were contented with their lives even though they were poor and they only use second-handed items, which they got for free.

Their house only has two rooms at the moment, but it was enough to please them. Twinleaffan24 or merely Leaf as called by Barry Jun, their owner, doesn't like to spend much money and puts all her NP in the bank. She was also Dawn Hikari's mother but she adopted Barry Jun from the Pound.

Dawn Hikari Berlitz or Kari as nicknamed by her friends, was her first pet, a young, and beautiful xweetok who loves to explore. Her fur was azure blue and her eyes were the color of the night sky. She was originally named after the Negg Faerie: Kari and her second name in Japanese means light as she was born on dawn's first light. It would also seem that Kari is the only one who knows Leaf's real name.

Barry Jun Masuda was abandoned by its previous owner and Leaf happily adopted him. Still tormented by his past, Jun (his nickname) often has nightmares about his previous owner, a rich spoilt girl who only cared about her Neopets' appearance and would abandon them if they can't win a beauty contest. Now belonging to another owner, Barry is happy to know that Leaf is very kind to him and does his best to please his Master and at the same time tries his best to impress the girl of his dreams. His fur is a color of sunny yellow and his eyes are golden yellow.

**New Characters for Chapter 1****:

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Twinleaffan24

Real Name: Paulina

Nickname: Leaf

Age: 12 years old

Born in: Manila, Philippines

Nationality: Filipino

Religion: Christian

Blood: Half Filipino, half Chinese

Languages spoken: Filipino, English, Chinese, and a little Japanese, Spanish and French

Hobbies: Drawing, reading books, playing the violin, recorder, and guitar.

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Dawn Hikari Berlitz

First Name: Dawn Hikari

Last Name: Berlitz

Nickname: Kari

Born in: Shenkuu

Hair Color: Azure Blue

Eye Color: Dark Blue

Hobbies: Reading books, painting, playing the oboe, violin, accordion, and bass guitar.

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Barry Jun Masuda

First Name: Barry Jun

Last Name: Masuda

Nickname: Jun

Born in: Neopia Central

Hair Color: Yellow

Eye Color: Golden Yellow

Hobbies: Exploring, reading books, playing the bass guitar, drums, and oboe.


	2. Beginnings

**A/N:** Please enjoy the second chapter.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Neopets, only the file and this story.

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**Chapter 1: Beginnings**

**Dawn Hikari's POV**

"Honey…"

"Just five more minutes…" I murmured as my mother shook my left shoulder, trying to make me get up.

"Kari…Its seven o clock in the morning, and it's a beautiful day!"

"It's cold out there." I complained holding my favorite red xweetok plushie tight.

"It's the middle of autumn, it's suppose to be cold. Now **WAKE UP!**"

That's when I finally got the urge to jump from my bed. For as long as I've known my mother I've learned one important thing about her: do **NOT** get on her bad side. She is extremely intimidating if she gets angry, once we actually met Jun's previous owner and she teased mother about being poor and said so many bad things about Jun and me. I ended up giving them the xweetok battle cry of "chirka! chirka! chirka!" while Jun was staring daggers at his older yellow twin acara brother and sister and younger red xweetok sisters. Mother was so angry she almost exploded but luckily the only thing she did to that spoiled brat was slap her on the face…hard, then saying numerous insults at her like: "Just because your rich doesn't mean you should look down on people who are less fortunate than you, you coward!" or "How could you abandon your neopet you uppity brat?"

I grinned as I thought about that lady and how she walked away from the scene with her nose in the air, serves her right. How dare she call me and Jun ugly! But it sure hit Jun hard, I felt so sorry for him, I wonder why he was even abandoned. Well, as I was saying…I got up from bed then mother combed my hair nicely. Mother is always so nice to Jun and me, but for some reason I just can't understand why Jun won't treat us like family, he doesn't treat mother like a well, mother and treats her more like an older sister. And he still treats me like a kid just because his two years older than me.

"Kari…" My mother said waking me up from my daydream. "What do you want to wear?" She opened my closet. "Anything will do mother." I said as I pick up my clothing for autumn: a snow roller crash jumper, a brown winter scarf, a holiday belt, a khaki skirt, blue shoes and a veiled autumn hat. I put on all of my clothes then my mother handed me my wind up pocket watch. "You should bring this, just in case you forget the time." After I thanked her I went straight to the family room to meet up with Jun, he's probably up by now since he wakes up every morning at dawn. By the way, where's Salvia?

**Jun's POV**

I woke up as Kari's Hermiteese: Salvia pecked me on the head this morning, I stretched and looked outside my window, a few hours before sunrise, I guessed since the sun wasn't out yet. I got out of bed and changed: a basic white shirt, khaki trousers, a brown winter hat, blue shoes, a green belt, and a ghostkerscarf.

"Bloop, bloop…" my Ghoti Damion said as he saw me."Good morning Damion." Damion did a backward somersault. I giggled then head for the next room, hoping to wait for Leaf and Kari there. A few hours later, Leaf woke up, still looking sleepy. "Salvia?" I asked. She just nodded sleepily while yawning, then the next moment she stared at me, looking annoyed, then grabbed a brush and comb. I knew where this was going…I sat at my blue bean bag chair as Leaf combed my yellow fur. After that she headed for Kari's room. As I look around the room I notice that Leaf already put up the Christmas decorations, although Christmas was still a few months away, it made me remember the time when I was abandoned…

-**Flashback-**

It was almost Christmas as I stood next to my mother, Togekiss9, as we look at the pet laboratory, I wonder how my mother have been able to complete the map, as my mother thought which one of us will have the honor to be her first pet that will be zapped by the pet laboratory ray, I looked at my siblings: the twin yellow acaras, Miragros and Miragrosa, and my younger sister Shenleya who was a xweetok just like me, only she was a red xweetok and I was painted, well…striped, which I was happy about because not many pets get to be painted striped.

"Barry…" my mom called. "…go to the platform." I was so surprised I yelped! "Sheesh! Barry you didn't need to yell!" my mom complained. "Sorry mother…" I apologized. "Miragrosa giggled while Miragros rolled his eyes, Shenleya just stared at me…hard. I stepped into the platform and took a deep breath as the laser pointed to me. "_I hope this would all be over soon…_" I thought. Then a flash of light appeared and I slowly felt my fur melting, I didn't feel any pain though, and I didn't also felt any change. I slowly went down from the platform feeling great, but once my mom saw me she suddenly turned angry. I wondered why, I looked to my siblings but they just gasped and stared at me like I'm an alien from outer space who just landed my spaceship on our backyard. Shenleya took out her blue scallop mirror and said: "You better looked at your reflection, brother…" I looked to the mirror and wondered what she meant…then I was shocked. I wasn't a blue and pink striped xweetok that was my mother's favorite pet anymore…I was a normal yellow xweetok. I looked at my mom. She was disappointed, I could tell, her face said it all. She stayed quiet for about two hours until finally…

"Barry Jun Masuda…" I was shocked, she never said my full name before, and especially in a painful voice. "You…don't deserve to be treated like this." I wondered what she meant, does she mean that she's going to paint me with another paint brush? I was happy as we went to the neopian plaza, maybe she was going to buy me toys to make me feel better after today's incident, but instead of the plushie store she went south. Maybe buy me some instruments? Or are we eating at pizzaroo? But she passed by the music store and pizzaroo too, what was going on? And why was I not dressed for this, mother took off all of my clothes and even took my petpet: Panda the Sandan. Then we arrived at the neopian pound, that's when I realize that she was abandoning one of us at the pound. I looked at the twins. Miragrosa shed tears, and Miragros wiped them with his handkerchief with a sad expression, I looked at Shenleya. She was crying nonstop when she looked at me. At that time mom was writing in a piece of paper. That's when it hit me…I could realize what she was writing just by watching: mother was abandoning…me.

I tried to run away but mom picked me up, I struggled to get free, but her grip was too tight and she handed me over to Dr. Death. "But mom…why?" I asked with tears in my eyes. She didn't even bother even turning around to face me and simply said: "You're not good enough." I struggled once more and shouted: "Mom! Don't! Please reconsider! Mom! Don't leave me! Don't leave me alone! Please…Miragros! Miragrosa! Shenleya! Mother! Don't leave me alone! Don't leave me behind! I beg you…please! Mother! Miragros! Miragrosa! Shenleya! Don't abandon me!" The door closed at I was taken to a cage, I was all alone, I faced to the wall where a window was set, and all I can do was cry, wishing, hoping, that she would return to take me back. Every time an owner visits the pound to adopt, we were all taken to a giant cage, but I just sat at the back, because the owners always never even look at me not even once, until…

-**Two Years Later-**

I was looking at the wall as usual, with my head down. It's been two years and I was losing hope of ever getting adopted or having mother take me back. Then the pink uni of the adoption center entered, I already knew what she was going to say, I've heard her say that for the past two years.

"Alright everyone get ready to get out of your cages, a new owner is coming to visit and is hoping to adopt one of you! A lucky neopet will probably be able to have a new home so please behave. She will be entering in a few minutes, so do take that time to look your best. Oh, and by the way for the males, please don't stare, drool, or let your jaws hit the ground when you see **her..." ** She left the door and shut tight so none of us will be able to escape.

"_**Her**_?" I thought. I listened to the other pets chat. "Do you think the owner is famous?" asked a Lenny. "Maybe she's a celebrity!" replied a Kyrii. Then the owner came in. Everyone looked depressed, unfortunately the owner was pretty normal, she had long black hair which was cascaded down her back, dark brown eyes and I guessed she was form Shenkuu since she has that Asian atmosphere around her, her eyes were small, and she was pretty tall, about 5'4 feet, she was wearing a blue green turtleneck, jeans and dark blue sneakers. She looked like she was about 12-13 years old, about the same age as my mother. She looked nice, that's for sure, but the others didn't seem to care.

"Kari…come on, don't be shy." She said to something behind the door. After a few minutes of encouraging to this "Kari" person, a brown paw came out from behind the door. Everyone was amazed at what they saw, I took a peek at "Kari", that's when I saw the most beautiful xweetok I have ever seen, her hair was blue as the ocean, her eyes were the color of the sky in a cloudless night, but that wasn't what amazed me the most, the only thing she wore was a brown winter scarf, and that simplicity was able to capture every male neopets' attention, even mine's!

"Alright Kari, choose who you want to be your new friend." said the owner which name was Twinleaffan24. Kari nodded shyly then slowly but gracefully approached the cage. For once I was eager to show myself, other than hiding at the back every time. Some Acaras were trying to get her attention, Kari walked up to them and checked their likes and attitude, then backed away. Apparently most of the neopets abandoned here were ones that like to bully others, and only a few are nice and friendly, like me. Then she noticed me looking at her, I blushed then looked away. "_How embarrassing_!" I thought, still looking away."Um…excuse me…" I turned around, no longer blushing, then I looked at her, up close she looks a bit like Shenleya, only her hair was blue and was a lot younger and more…beautiful. "What's your name?" she asked shyly.

"My name…?" I asked finally snapping back to Neopia. "It's Barry…Barry Jun…Masuda," I said. "And yours…" "_You fool! Do you really think she'll answer you_!" I thought "My name is…" I looked at her. "Dawn Hikari Berlitz." she said cheerfully with a smile. I was surprised she even said her name to me, and with a smile too! She looked at my likes and attitude, her owner went by her side and read it as well. "Likes to explore lands and would try and make friends when meeting others, just like you Kari!" said her Twinleaffan24, after that she went to the pink uni. Everyone was returned to their cages except me. I looked at the pink uni, she nodded. I stared at Kari, she smiled, and I smiled back. After two years, I was finally getting adopted!

**-End of Flashback-**

"Jun! Jun! JUN!" said a voice, snapping me out of my daydream. I looked around the room, and then saw Kari at the west exit of the room. I stared in awe as she entered the room, her fur was neatly combed, although her face was covered by her veil, she was stunningly beautiful. Leaf appeared soon after then headed for the kitchen. I followed her and Kari, then I felt something…I can't describe it but I know have felt this feeling before, back when I was with my mother and siblings, when I fought Vira and the Pant Devil, only this presence was stronger and more…evil. I went back to the family room then to the northwest hall.

"Jun! Where are you going?" asked Kari then followed me. I then went south of the hall and headed for Leaf's flower garden, I looked around but all I saw was colour lilies, Leaf's favorite flowers. I stood there and wondered if it was just my imagination, then Kari came in and…"Barry Jun Masuda, what were you thinking running on us like that?" she said that just like my mother. I tried my best to ignore her to concentrate, I was sure there I felt something evil in the air, but what?

**While somewhere on Kreludor…**

"Are we ready yet?" asked a hideous looking Acara. "Patience my dear Vira…" said a man with pale green skin with a cloak on. He was standing before a book that was on a stand. "Soon we will conquer all of Neopia, but until then…" He opened the book to a page where two xweetoks were drawn. One xweetok had light colored fur or so because it was in black and white and was male, he was holding a double pointed spear on his right hand, and a warriors round shield on the left. The other xweetok was female and her fur was of a dark color, she was holding an enchanted wooden bow and on her archer's belt held an engraved broad sword, at her back she was wearing a quiver with arrows in it."We must make sure that the prophecy will never happen…" He ripped the page off then threw it at the fireplace. "Of course Dr. Sloth…"said Vira then bowed obediently.

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**New Characters for Chapter 2:  
**

**Salvia**

Name: Salvia

Species: Hermiteese

Owner: Dawn Hikari Berlitz

**Damion**

Name: Damion

Species: Ghoti

Owner: Barry Jun Masuda

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**A/N:** Chapter three coming soon and please **REVIEW**!


	3. Altador's Hidden Secrets

**A/N:****Sorry if it took so long readers! But if you read this Chapter you would understand why...****  


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**Jun's POV**

"Kari! Leaf! Hurry up will you!" I yelled while waiting impatiently at our front door. We were heading to visit Leaf's cousin, Platina Berlitz, who lives in Altador which was south of Shenkuu.

"I'm coming!" yelled Kari as she climbed down the stairs, she was carrying her basket of food, which she helped Leaf prepare for our outing.

She was later followed by Leaf, who was still putting on her shoes while running. She took out her house keys from her bag, and closed the door.

"Finally!" I sighed while heading to the direction of the train station, which was south of the street. "Hurry up will you! I want to sign up for the Altador Cup as soon as possible!"

"Whoah! Hold your unis there Jun, we still have to ride the train for more than an hour to get there." Leaf said while walking with Kari at her side.

"Yeah Jun, besides we still have to visit cousin Aqua, Chris, aunt Platina and Maya before we get to the stadium." Kari stated for like the hundredth time this week.

Aquamarine Berlitz was Kari's 2nd cousin, a blue lupe who was a little older than Kari, Crystaline Berlitz or simply Chris was a Yellow Peophin and Kari's younger cousin and Aqua's younger sister, Platina might be Leaf's cousin but Kari likes to call her aunt since Leaf has no brothers or sisters, but she has a lot of cousins, the truth was she has more than 25 cousins, and almost all of them had at least two siblings, more than three of them already had children, seven of them were older than her including Platina, their real last name Berlitz wasn't real and was only the last name they wanted to have, and last of all majority of her cousins' real names starts with the letter "J", and Leaf was the only one with her name starting with a letter "P", or based on what Kari tells me, Maya Kiyomi Berlitz was a yellow eyrie and was Kari's younger sister who was staying with Platina to become a Ranger at Altador so she stays there for almost the whole year round.

I sighed impatiently while polishing my sword, waiting for Leaf to buy our tickets at the train station. This was so boring! Why wouldn't she bought those tickets earlier, she knows I hate waiting…especially in public places! I heard Kari sigh once she saw me. I could tell she was annoyed as she took a seat next to me on the bench, she had two cups in her hands.

"Want some?" she asked giving me a cup.

"Sure." I said putting my sword in its scabbard and taking the cup which suddenly soothed my headaches. "What is this anyway?"  
"Black Cherry Tea." She said then took a sip of her tea.

"Oh…" I said then took a sip of my own tea. "So how much did you spend?"  
"Two neopoints." She said then took another sip.

I almost spit the tea in my mouth. Kari really knows how to save money…

After what seemed like a hundred hours, Leaf finally bought our tickets. We headed for the train, but unfortunately we'll need to wait three hours to get there. Yahoo! Another opportunity for me to die of boredom. As we rode the train Leaf actually fell asleep after less than one and a half an hour since the train took off, Kari was meditating, to tell you the truth it looked boring to me, I started to get annoyed of doing nothing, I started to imagine myself playing yooyuball again, it would be so much fun! I imagined that I had the yooyu, then I faced that jelly goalie then I threw it at the net…goal! Barry Jun Masuda scores for Shenkuu! The crowd cheers as they carry me through the stands! I giggled at the thought, then I felt something soft on my shoulder…I faced the direction of my left shoulder and…! Kari was asleep and was sleeping on my shoulder! I blushed a dark crimson, of all the neopets in neopia why did it need to be that Kari sleeps on my shoulder? I looked at the window, trying to concentrate on other things other than Kari leaning on me. I looked outside on the window then I saw something that made me forget everything…no it wasn't a more beautiful neopet than Kari, it was a dark faerie with a pendant around her neck. "_It couldn't be…that's impossible!_" I shoved my shoulder and Kari's head along with it which made her head bump into the chair, waking her up.

"Ouch!" she said rubbing her head. "What was that for Jun?" she asked then tried to suffocate me.

"I'm sorry Kari!" I said hardly able to breathe. "It was an accident!" she let go of her grip.

"Just don't do it again next time…" she said. Then I remembered, I looked into the window again, but there was nothing there except for grasslands and mountains. Was it just my imagination?

"Hello! Neopia to Jun! Hey! Can you hear me?" I heard Kari say, really annoyed.

I looked at her still confused. I know that faerie I've seen her somewhere, but for some reason I can't seem to remember…

"Attention to all passengers!" yelled the speaker. "We will be arriving at our destination soon so please pack your bags and get ready to leave immediately." All the other passengers got their bags and got ready to leave, while Kari was still nudging Leaf's shoulder to wake her up.

I took my sword and other things as Leaf finally woke up, Kari took her quiver and bow, basket and her backpack, Leaf took her bag and jacket as we got ready to leave the train.

As we left the station someone suddenly yelled: "Cousin!" Oh boy…

"Platina! Chris! Aqua!" Leaf said rushing over to her cousin. Platina was wearing a pink sleeveless dress that was covered by a dark pink vest and a pink belt at her waist, Aqua stood beside her wearing a prissy miss bow, a black skirt, a basic white shirt, and blue shoes while Chris was on Platina's other side wearing a tiara and a dress. "It's been a while!"

"It's nice to see you too Leaf…" started Platina then Kari came along. "Kari! Is that you? You've grown!"

"Thanks aunt Platina!" said Kari.

"Hi Jun! How've you been? Training hard?" asked Platina as she turned towards me.

"Of course! I wouldn't have achieved the rank of a green belt if I haven't." I said while showing her my green belt in karate.

"I see! How about you Leaf? Kari? Everything doing well being scholars?"

"Pretty much, we're really busy every day, but since it's time for the Altador Cup we're taking a break for a few months." answered Leaf while scratching the back of her head. "Well for the two of us but…" she turned towards me. "Jun really wants to sign up for the Altador Cup, you know how he is about yooyuball."

"Uh huh…" Platina replied while nodding then looked at me.

Now if there was anything I can't understand about those two it was this: They were so different but they get along so well almost like sisters! Don't believe me? Well look at this!

One:

Leaf wants to be an astronomer or an author.

Platina wants to be a fashion designer or a nurse.

Two:

Leaf was crazy about stars, planets, nebulas, moons, geometry, algebra or anything else that concerns astronomy and math.

Platina is extremely crazy (I mean extremely) about clothes, skirts, shoes, cute handbags, headbands, flowers or anything else that is girly! (which kinda makes me sick…)

Three:

Leaf just loves to collect shiny obsidians, stamps, coins, and maps.

Platina likes to collect cute plushies, pink headbands, pink ribbons, pink skirts, pink pens, and pink hairclips (you can tell she loves the color pink can you?).

Four:

Leaf's hobbies consist mostly of reading books, novels, drawing, painting, and was a little athletic and sporty (compared to miss diva wearing the pink dress) especially in tennis or badminton.

Platina's hobbies are designing clothes, dressing up, dressing up her neopets, having romantic fantasies about I don't know who, and thinking about a boy (I seriously don't know).

Five:

Leaf is a bit…tomboyish at times, (don't tell her that I said this because she'll kill me!) she'll take on anybody who dares to humiliate her or Kari and me and isn't afraid of getting hurt at all.

Platina is so dramatic and is a little bit _too_ girly, the truth was all of her clothes were pink! (seriously! I'm not kidding you! Look at her wardrobe yourself, it's full of pink clothes!)

As I was saying I didn't noticed that something was flying over me, until Kari and Leaf both shouted: "Maya!" I looked up and saw a 5 foot tall Eyrie in the sky above us. It was Maya Kiyomi Berlitz, Kari's younger sister. She was wearing her usual white t-shirt and pants, she wouldn't wear a skirt because it would be embarrassing to wear one while you're flying.

Maya was wearing her quiver at her side with her bow in hand.

"Hey Kari, Jun, Mother." She said once she landed on the ground near us.

"Maya!" The three of us cried.

After a while of hugging Maya we finally headed for Platina's house. Leaf, Platina, Aqua, Kari, and Maya were chatting nonstop while walking to our destination, which annoyed me a little.

At last after what felt like a gazillion years we finally reached Platina's house. The house was a lot bigger than ours and was the same as the last time we went here, thank goodness that Platina didn't painted the whole house pink or I'll go nuts, well Leaf and I will go nuts, she kinda hates Platina's favorite color a little because of a small memory that we don't walk to talk about right in her face (yeah, she'll probably kill us if we did).

As I went to the male guest's room I took my stuff and put it around the room hastily. I was still wondering about that Faerie, she looked so familiar but I just couldn't identify who she is, which was strange. After giving up on figuring out who that Faerie was I just guessed that she was some Dark Faerie who was just passing by.

As usual Kari slept to the room in the middle of Maya and Leaf, while Platina sleeps beside Leaf's.

After a decent night sleep, we all got dressed to go outside. I took out my usual clothes, Kari, Aqua, and Maya did the same, Platina…well she got dress in a red and pink blouse and a skirt that was again pink with butterfly designs, pink boots, and a pink hat. Leaf was wearing a light purple and white striped jacket with a hood, a black sleeveles undershirt, blue jeans, her usual sky blue sneakers, and her favorite black hat with white polka dots and a bow. If you look at them side by side it's kind of hard to tell if they're really related to each other.

"Barry…"

"Yeah?" I snapped out of my daydream and looked at Leaf.

"I won't be able to join you to sign-up at the Altador Cup, but Platina will take you there okay? Kari and I'll be at the observatory if you need us." With that she left with Kari at her side. You see…Leaf wants to be an astronomer once she grows up, the last time we came to visit she has found 11 constellations in total, and she really wants to find the last one: The Hunter. I know this is all important to her but…why does she need to have Platina accompany me of all people?

"Oh well…" I thought as we approach the stadium. But as I did I suddenly had a bad feeling, without another thought I headed for the Hall of Heroes.

"Jun where are you going? Jun?" Platina called but as I ran too fast for her to catch up I did something they would never imagine I can do …

**While at the Observatory…**

"Found anything yet Leaf?" Kari asked as Leaf looks into her telescope.

"Nothing…" Leaf said and gave out a sigh. "We might as well wait for the last constellation to show up, all the others did…"

"Yeah, it's wiser that way..." Kari sighed and gathered her books then left to return to the Hall of Heroes but on the way her feet get tangled and she tripped then falls down off the stairs until…

"Kari!" a familiar voice yelled. It was Jun, racing to the stairs hurriedly, he was using the ability haste to increase his speed, as he reached the stairs he used his ability twisting vines to catch Kari.

"You okay?"

"Yeah thanks, you saved me back there." Kari said once she stood up.

"Kari!" Leaf said once she reached us. "…are you alright? No broken bones?"

"No mom I'm fine…" When Kari said that her eyes suddenly widened.

"Huh? Kari what is it? Is something wro-" Leaf's suddenly turned as wide as Kari's, I looked at what they were gazing upon then I saw three dots on the floor behind Jerdana's statue, and when I looked at it, it seems to form a pattern…

"Is that it?" Kari asked turning to Leaf.

"…" Leaf looked stunned. "Possible…but let's ask Finneus first."

**At the Archives…**

"Ah, the last constellation!" said Finneus the Archivist. "Go and find it, I suppose. We may as well get this over with."

Kari nodded happily but Leaf just nodded sadly.

Even though he said that Leaf still look disturbed for some reason, but this was what she wanted all her life, discovering all the constellations of Altador.

She was like that for the whole time we traveled back to the Hall of Heroes, and as we approached the janitor suddenly went to us,

"I saw you almost fall out of the observatory!" she said to Kari but she said she was just fine. "That reminds me, I've been thinking about closing the ceiling again. Our heating costs have gone way up, now that we have all this extra air to keep warm. We keep our boilers in the basement, y'see. I keep having to go down e and adjust the settings. It's a real pain and MAKES ME ANGRY!" He coughs. "Sorry. Been taking some medication to keep me calm. Anyway, if you want to go down to the basement and take a look, just let me know."

"What do you think you guys?" Leaf asked us.

"Sounds good to me." I said.

"I guess." Kari replied. "It won't hurt right?"

"No! Not at all!" the janitor said then lead us to a chamber underneath the hall.

The hall was mostly pitch black but at one side there was lighting. The janitor left us because he had some cleaning to do or so. The basement of the Hall of Heroes is full of mysterious machinery, then when we left Leaf suddenly went back to the archives again saying: "I need to check something!" Then she dashed right in front of our there was anything you should know about Leaf, she runs pretty fast when she needs to, so we were pretty much a long way behind her. After some time she arrived at the Archivist's office, or that's where we saw her go to.

As we enter Finneus' office they were already talking to each other.

"Wait, I'm sorry, did you say there were only three stars you found in the clue? Well no wonder you can't find that constellation... three stars isn't enough for a constellation!" he scoffs. "You'll have to go find the other half of the constellation, I suppose. Hm, it probably isn't in the same place as the first half. That would be too easy."

"I knew it…" Leaf whispered a little bit too loudly.

"Do you have any idea where we should go next?" Kari asked, hopefully wanting an answer from her mother.

"…..." Leaf was quiet, probably lost in thought… "…..One."

"Really?" Kari and I asked hopefully. "What is it?"

She looked at the ceiling. "Guys…looks like we're gonna have some fun."

Now you think that we'll go and play "Slushie Slinger" or "Make Some Noise" or something to have fun well…you're wrong! Leaf's idea of having fun is probably messing with technical gadgets that are obviously not hers. And I already guessed what she's going to do…

"You're gonna jam the gears on the ceiling aren't you?" I asked just to make sure.

"I'm just going to check…"she said while smiling. "If my hunch is right on the money, we'll finally solve this mystery."

We went to the Perfectly Flat Rock Quarry which was south of Altador. It was filled with, well…rocks, millions of them. And as usual the two jubjub quarry workers were arguing…

"It's a _perfectly flat_ rock quarry!" one shouts

"No, it's a _perfectly flat rock_ quarry!" shouts the other

For some reason that's the only thing they talk about…

"Come on…let's just get a rock that we can use to jam those gears…" Leaf said then she went to take a rock…

"Hey, you can't come in here! This quarry's for official business only!"One of the quarry workers blocks Leaf as she tries to step into the quarry.

The other quarry worker nudges him. "I think they want one of the rocks," he says. "Couldn't hurt, could it? Just a rock, not like we don't have a million of 'em here anyway."

"True…" I whispered and Kari hits me.

"Hey!" I complained but Kari just ignored me.

The first quarry worker grumps. "Fine, you can have a rock. But it'll cost ya - 50 neopoints!"

"50 neopoints for a rock…" Leaf complained but she took out her wallet anyway.

The quarry worker takes the 50 neopoints and hands you the rock. "Well, there you go. Don't know what you'd want a perfectly flat three-inch rock for, but..." He shrugs, which is a neat trick, considering JubJubs have no shoulders.

"I can't believe I just spent 50 neopoints for a rock!" Leaf complained once we were in the city, far away from the quarry.

"Just think that we'll finally get to finish this." Kari said trying to encourage Leaf.

After what seemed like forever of Leaf's complaining we finally reached the hall, went to the basement, put the rock on one of the top gears then pushed the button to see if Leaf's plan works…

The ceiling opens a bit to the left, and the entire right was closed.

"Yes!" Leaf said then goes to the basement to take the rock again.

"Are you sure that we only need one rock, I think we should get more." I suggested.

"Really?" Kari asks.

"Uh huh." I said.

"Then go get one yourself!" Kari ordered

"What?" I demanded.

"It was your idea…" Leaf said sarcastically.

"Fine…" Don't get me wrong, I know when to quit people so I quit!

**Later…**

"Do you even have a plan to get another rock?" Leaf demanded while we were hiding behind a big rock.

"Of course! I'm not an idiot!" I declared now looking at the two jubjubs.

"So what's your big plan?" Kari demanded.

"Distract 'em then get the rock."

"Nice plan…" Leaf encouraged, but it was obvious she was lying. "Do your best! If you need us we'll be waiting here with my remaining money."

"Good luck Jun!" Kari smiled.

"_Okay, here goes…_" I thought as I grabbed the nearest rock and threw it behind the workers then hide again.

Hopefully the quarry workers turn around at the noise of a rock being thrown into the quarry. "Hey, what was that?" one of them says, peering around curiously.

Next, I threw a big rock which was lying in a corner then threw it.

The quarry workers turned back around. "Oh well, I guess it was nothing. Say, it sure does seem like there's fewer rocks in here than there used to be."

I used my ability teleport and took the rock I threw earlier which was now behind the Jubjubs, and teleported again to where Leaf and Kari where hiding.

"Great job!" Leaf said taking the rock and putting it in her pocket. "Now what?"

"We're probably gonna need another rock, just in case." Kari suggested.

"And this time you need to get it, since Leaf and I each already got one." I said now tired from teleporting a lot.

"Sounds fair." Leaf shrugged.

"Fine by me." Kari said.

"So how are you going to get it?" I asked knowing that they'll probably won't fall for the same trick again. Leaf and I looked at her hoping for an answer.

"I need to have juggling lessons." She said after awhile.

Leaf and I looked at each other, then on a smiling Kari.

Leaf and I followed her into the archives, Kari went to the boards where the clubs where posted, she then asked to some Krawk who was passing by.

"Excuse me, but do you know where the Quiggle who runs the Alchemy, Herbology, Mining, and Engineering clubs is currently at?" she asked.

Leaf and I were both shocked, that evil Quiggle used to be the president of the astronomy club, Leaf's club, but he was dressed like a green Blumaroo so nobody noticed until a few weeks ago, plus he even use to threaten Kari with a protractor, so why was she asking where that Quiggle was?

"Ah sure! He's currently in the Herbology club, but you don't want to go there…he's mean." The Krawk replied then headed for the exit.

"_Like we didn't know that…_" I thought.

"What are we visiting the Quiggle for anyway?" Leaf asked, completely confused.

"You'll find out soon enough…." Kari said.

"Fine…" I groaned.

"Jun, Kari, if I do anything bad to the Quiggle try to stop me okay?" She said while holding her favorite Ceremonial Qasalan Dagger.

I sweatdropped at the thought, normally if Leaf gets angry she doesn't use weapons, but the last time she did it went pretty…ugly. We barely stopped her from slashing the Tax Beast's head off because he took a lot of her money, 60 % to be exact.

We went inside and we saw the Quiggle alone (since there were no other members) sitting on a bench. If he hadn't tried to hit us with a protractor I would have felt sorry for him.

"*sigh* No one ever wants to join my club. It's useless!" I heard the Quiggle say, pretending not to notice us. The Quiggle sniffles a little, despairing over his situation. "This Herbalism Club was a terrible idea. No one wants to learn about plants or flowers! Maybe I should have stayedin the circus."

"The circus eh?" Kari asked with a smirk on her face, then she winked at us.

"Oh..." I thought.

The Quiggle's eyes brighten up as Kari asks about the circus. "Why, yes! I used to be the greatest juggler Altador had ever known. But after that incident with the Bearog on the tightrope..."He shuddered. "So I had to branch out, find something new to occupy my time. Starting all these clubs seemed like a great idea, but now..." He looks around, wistfully. "Oh, the glory days of juggling..." He glances at us out of the corner of his eye...

"All RIGHT already! Just teach us to juggle! Sheesh." I shouted, probably because my patience broke, or because I was being annoyed too much.

The Quiggle spent a few hours showing us the basic skill of juggling three similarly-sized objects. It's an arduous process, filled with hope and despair, dizzying highs and crushing lows. I would love to hang around, but I fell asleep in the middle of his lesson because it was just so boring! But eventually, Kari mastered the art of keeping three beanbags in the air, and the Quiggle pats her on the back.

"I'm so glad I was able to pass on this knowledge. Finally, my legacy will continue." He stops for a second, then scowls at you. "Now GET OUT! I've got to go back to being arrogant." And after that we were shoved outside, while I was still dozing in dreamland and Leaf needed to dump a bucket of cold water on me to wake me up.

"Hey! What was that for?" I asked now soaking wet.

"Just dry yourself up." Kari threw me a towel, and I hastily dried my fur.

"How did you know the Quiggle knows how to juggle anyway?" I asked.

" Oh, a few rumors, nothing really special, but the other members of the astronomy club used to say that the Quiggle used to juggle at some fair, I didn't believe it so I wasn't sure until a few hours ago." She said proud of herself.

I rolled my eyes. "So what do we do now?"

"I think that's obvious Jun, go back to the quarry." Leaf answered for Kari.

"Oh joy…"I replied, now drying my hair.

We finally arrived at quarry a few minutes later, and this time we didn't need to hide so we just marched over.

The quarry workers look at us as we approached.

"Bored?" Kari suddenly asks out of the blue.

"Bored? Yeah, I guess we are kinda bored. We've been having the same argument for months. Can't think of anything new to talk about. I guess that's what can happen when you're surrounded by square rocks all day. They're not interesting at all."

"Then would you mind if I ask you for a request?" Kari asks.

He perks up as Kari explain her request. "You want to show us your juggling skills, eh? Well, it looks like you've only got two rocks there. That's hardly a challenge to juggle!"

"Unless you're a JubJub," says the other quarry worker.

"Well, yes, obviously," says the first one." "But if you had three rocks to juggle, now that would be something."

I groaned. If they would become comedians they would probably stink.

"So give me another rock." Kari suggested.

The quarry workers cheer as she demonstrates her juggling ability. "Wow, that's the most fun I've had at work since I started here!" says one. "You bet," says the other. "This is quite possibly the greatest day of my entire life." He sniffles, holding back tears.

I sweatdropped, they would probably be better in soap operas though…

"You did it Kari!" Leaf said as she gave Kari a giant bear hug.

"Thanks mom! Ah…could you let go of your grip now? You're kind of suffocating me…" she said with hardship.

"Oops…" Leaf said letting go of her grip. "Sorry about that…"

I giggled at the two, for some reason they always can make anyone smile.

"Now, let's go to the basement you two, time to find that last constellation!" Leaf said encouragingly, then we headed once more for the Hall of Heroes.

"So how are we going to do this?" I asked once we were looking at the ceiling, completely open.

"Simple, first we see where we should jam one gear at a time, then record whether it goes left or right, we have to get ones that go right, because that's probably where we'll find the constellation. It'll probably be 15 notches to right." She said like it was a lesson from my math teacher.

"So who will be recording?" I asked.

"Me. Kari will be up at the ceiling to look if it's right." she pointed to Kari who was on the stairs to the observatory.

"And what will I do?"

"You will be jamming the gears…and bring this with you just in case," she handed me a walkie-talkie.

"Oh great…" I said jamming the first gear." "Okay, push the button Leaf."

"Thanks Jun." she said then pushed the button. "How's it going there Kari?"

"It's moving three notches(lines on the ceiling) to the left. We don't need that one…" she said in her walkie-talkie. "We'll probably need one that'll go 4, 5, and 6 notches to the right."

"Roger that!" I said to the walkie-talkie.

This continued for about an hour until we finally found the right gears…

"Alright Jun! Jam the gears number 7, 9, and 10!" Leaf said to her walkie-talkie.

"Okay…done!" I said putting the rocks in their places, then went to the stairs to the observatory.

Leaf followed soon after she pushed the button. The ceiling moved fifteen notches on the right, the left completely closed.

"Is that it?" Kari said pointing to the small dots that formed a bow-like pattern on the ceiling with the ones on the ground.

"Finally…we did it" Leaf said choking back a tear of happiness.

"Hurry up will you Kari?" Jun yelled at the observatory. "I want to get this over with!

"What are you getting upset about?" Kari said once she has finally climbed the last step of the stairs. "Haven't you already signed up for the Altador Cup?"  
"Aiyeee! I completely forgot!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. "I'll meet you guys after you find the Hunter here!" I ran across the pile of stairs to the stadium where I left Platina and the others behind.

"Sigh…why is he always liked that?" Kari asked once I was gone.

"Come on, let's just concentrate on finding the last constellation." Leaf suggested looking through the telescope.

**Later…**

"Glad that's over with…" I said finally leaving from the huge line of Neopians to sign up for the Altador Cup.

Platina, Aqua, and Chris were waiting for me at the entrance. Platina was looking at her reflection in the mirror, Aqua was sniffing everything around her and Chris was busy eating a green apple. Apparently Maya needs to train so she didn't come with us.

"Well that took you long enough…" Platina said as soon as she saw me. "By the way where were you going to earlier?"

"Oh just going with Leaf and Kari…"I said then had a thought. "Leaf and Kari! I forgot I promised them I'll come back once I've finished!" I ran off…again.

"Sigh…I wonder why he's always like that?" Aqua looked at her mother for answers.

"Beats me…" Platina shrugged.

Chris just kept eating her green apple.

**At the Archives…**

"At long, long last, King Altador, the Hunter. You have found a constellation for each of the twelve Heroes of Altador... and all twelve of the constellation gems in the ceiling of the Hall of Heroes would be alight, except that the magical source of their lighting has been shut off."The archivist says. "However, the Book of Ages has revealed another chapter. I believe that the Book contains a weak magical power source, which reveals a chapter each time a constellation is found. I think I failed to sense it before because the other two enchantments, being so much more powerful, drowned it out. Alas, the magic in the Book of Ages does not seem to be connected to anything else, so it is of no use to us in unraveling this mystery."

"I have hoped it will though…" Leaf said sadly.

The archivist sits at his table, shuffles through some papers. "And now we wait. The history-hiding enchantment is very strong, and will probably take some time to wear off. We should slowly begin to regain our memories of past history as it decays."

"Can I take a look at the book?" Leaf asked.

"Sure, go ahead…" the archivist said still shuffling his papers.

"Here it is, Chapter 12 the Hunter…" Leaf began reading the book out loud. "It is a little-known fact that Altador, the Lupe hunter, did not name the city that bears his name after himself. Rather, when the time came to name their future city, all twelve council members submitted a name by placing their ballot into a box. As Altador pulled each piece of parchment from the box, he was surprised to find that everyone but he had written "Altador" as their suggestion. In a single action, Altador demonstrated his hallmark humility and sincerity, and the loyalty he inspired in others."  
Leaf took a deep breath then kept reading.  
"The heroism of Altador cannot be described in a single event, however. Rather, a lifetime of noble deeds and good character earned him the title of "hero." Altador was raised in a city of corrupt leaders. One by one, his neighbors left to seek a better life. Before long, little was left of Altador's hometown. The citizens wandered, looking for somewhere to make a new start. Though still young, Altador did his best to help by hunting for food. It was during this time that he began to develop his skills with the bow and arrow."

She paused to take another breath.  
"There were no great festivals, and trade with other lands was minimal. Once an adult, Altador left to seek out a new city, one with good and just leaders. The villagers gave him their blessing, hoping that one day he would return and lead them to a brighter future.

And so Altador set out, travelling from one city to another. Along his journey, he kept hearing similar stories about the governors of each place he visited. Greed and an insatiable lust for power appeared to be widespread, and the governed always seemed to suffer for it. Altador might have lost hope, and given up his quest, had it not been for one fateful day.

Altador crested a hill and saw lush plains, perfect for farming, beside a beautiful shore. _This would be an amazing place for a city,_ he thought, staring in awe across the fruitful land. _Too bad there isn't one here already_."

"That would be a nice place for a great garden too." Kari nudging Leaf's shoulder.

"And then it came to him: Could he, a simple Lupe with no desire for wealth or power, be capable of founding a great city? Even if he could, it would take many years of work. How could he possibly accomplish such an undertaking all on his own? He would have to find others who shared the same dream-others who would swear to uphold what is right over what is easy, and not fall into corruption."

"He made a mistake with the Betrayer though…" Kari said,

"Determined to make his dream a reality, Altador set off. It would take years, but he would find others to join him in building his city. In every town he met, the Lupe listened for tales of great deeds, striving to find others who could share in his dream. He would then gather all those living in the scattered villages across the land-including the one he had called home so long ago. Finally, he would unite them under one banner, which would represent truth and virtue... _forever_"

"Hey…what's that?" Kari asked as she points to a drawing of the Darkest Faerie.

"The Darkest Faerie. I thought you already knew that." Leaf said.

"I do but…" she pointed to the orange flames on her hands. "What's with the flames?"

"I don't know…Finneus?" she turns to Archivist. "What are these flames on The Betrayer's hands?"

The archivist says, "Strange, I'd overlooked that drawing of the Dar—" He hesitates for a moment, and gathers his composure. "The Betrayer. But you think it means something, you say? But what?"

"…"Leaf was in thought as usual, I can see the disturbance in her face though, it was obvious something was bugging her.

Finneus plops into his chair and rests his chin on his hand. "The fire in her hands... well, it's practically her trademark. And the picture does resemble her statue in the Hall of Heroes. Except on the statue, the flames are stone, just like the rest of it. Perhaps there's some way to bring the stone to life? There might be such a spell in the Archives somewhere, but the cataloguing system doesn't go into detail about specific spells, just the titles of books."

"So there are spellbooks in there. Do you know which one?" Leaf asks. "Do you have any idea where the spellbook is?"

He shakes his head. "Of course, there are thousands of spellbooks in there... tens or hundreds of thousands, perhaps. I wouldn't know where to begin to find the proper spell. Finding the coordinates for the correct room, just searching randomly, would be... madness of some kind."

"True…" Kari says then looks at Leaf.

Leaf sighed like she knew what Kari was thinking.

"I can't believe you dragged me into this…" Leaf said as she opens the door to the Library.

"Come on let's just find that spellbook…" Kari says as she looks at a random book on a bookshelf.

After what seems like forever of searching in the Library, they finally found one.

"Look Kari! There's over 52,000 spells on this book." Leaf said showing Kari the book.

"52,143 spells huh?" Kari said looking at the book. "So which one should we cast?"

"…..Try 15,234"Leaf stayed quiet.

A weird stench fills the room…

"…Eww! What's that smell?" Kari complained. "Oh! It's gone…"

"Let's try another spell." Leaf said. "9454?"

The temperature drops by more than 40 degrees.

"Cold!" Leaf and Kari both said while shivering.

"Next…spell?" Leaf said clutching her clothes.

"…How about 29,884" Kari suggested still shivering.

"Why that number?" Leaf asks confused.

"I just like it…" Kari said.

"Okay…let's try it…" Leaf replied, but having hardship with turning the book to spell number 29884.

Nothing happened.

"Well that was…weird." She said completely confused.

"Let's just get out of here…" Kari said still cold.

"I'm with you…" Leaf said following Kari out of the library still clutching to her jacket.

"So where are we suppose to meet Jun?" Kari asks.

"In the Hall of Heroes." Leaf replied. "Well, let's just wait there then."

But we didn't hope to see a change when we returned…

At first we thought we were dreaming until we pinched ourselves, and blinked a few times…

"Mother…" Kari yelps, looking at the Betrayer's statue which was different now.

"I know." Leaf says as she stares in awe at the now orange flames on the Betrayer's hands.

"Do you think we should…" Kari asks while holding Leaf's hand.

Leaf just nodded, then took something from her bag: a necklace, then slowly puts it on the statue's neck, goes backward then…

"Well that was-"Kari stopped as the statue turned to rubble.

**At** **the same time…**

"Looks like, that took longer than I expected." I said as I look at the entrance to the Hall. "Now, let's-" My head started to feel dizzy, painfully dizzy.

"Aahh!" I yelled feeling pain, and at the same time I heard an explosion…and a scream, and I suddenly shouted: "KARI!LEAF!"

When the pain finally subsided I heard footsteps, an old Lenny suddenly came up next to me.

"Finneus?" I asked then I suddenly remembered something, a lot of things….

"Yes little one." He said, looking at me. "So you remember as well?"

I nodded, still shocked at the sudden return of my memories, bad memories of the old times.

"So shall we?" the Lenny asked now pointing to the door.

I followed him into the Hall, and the first thing I saw was my friends, lying on the ground unconscious.

"Kari! Leaf!" I nudged both of their shoulders, and thankfully they both woke up.

"What happened?" Kari said once she regained consciousness,

"The statue…" Leaf said trying to get up. "…did it…"

"Blow up in a million pieces?" I continued. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Thank goodness…" Leaf said, then she seemed to have a headache that was as bad as mine's.

"So we all remember now…" Finneus said, butting in. "…the catastrophe, and what happened to Altador years ago."

"Yeah…" I said holding my sword, still in it's scabbard .

"I guess so…" Leaf said still holding her aching head.

"Wait! What is this all about?" Kari asked completely confused to what was happening. "What are you saying about a catastrophe in Altador?"

"Perhaps we would be the ones who should properly explain…" said an unknown voice from behind us.

"King Altador!" I, Kari, and Finneus said in awe then bowed to the Lupe. Kari did so after, still confused at what was happening.

"It is nice to meet you all." King Altador said, then a blue Aisha came over to his side.

"Lady Jerdana!" Finneus piped out. "I'm ever sorry for blaming you for all this!" he said bowing to the Aisha.

The Lady giggled. "It's understandable Finneus, do not worry about it."

"Now, shall we?" King Altador smiled then led us into a chamber right of the Hall, which I never noticed was there before.

The chamber was humongous, it was as if the room was fit for the Turmaculus. There were 12 thrones that form a U pattern, just like a half cresent moon, there were also huge windows which makes the sunlight and wind easily come in.

Inside there were already four people sitting on the thrones. I recognized all of them, Sasha the blue Cybunny or otherwise known as "The Dancer" was sitting at the most southeastern throne, Gordos "The Collector", an orange Skeith sat next to the throne next to Sasha.

Kelland "The Thief" sat at the southwestern throne which opposites Sasha's, and next to him sat Siyana, a light faerie who was also known as "The First to Rise".

They all studied us and at that moment I could see most of them had emotionless faces as if they were thinking: "_Who are these children?_"

Then King Altador and Jerdana sat at the middle of the throne room.

Jerdana bids us forward, and begins to tell you the story.

"Surely you are aware of the recent chaos wrought by the Betrayer, also called, by some, the Darkest Faerie." She glances askew for a moment at King Altador, who raises an eyebrow but says nothing. "Freed from her underwater prison, she wrested control of the kingdom from us, and attempted to remake Altador in her own image. The cornerstone of her plan was to destroy the history of Altador, by means both physical and magical. She intended to destroy every history book in Altador, and then cast a spell to change the memories of every citizen so that she would be remembered as the true founder of the kingdom."

"_Underwater prison…_" I thought then I suddenly remembered something, my eyes getting wide which nobody noticed, except for King Altador who just raised his eyebrow again.

"Wait." Kari demanded. "You said every _citizen_, Leaf's not a citizen of Altador, she lives in Shenkuu, so why does she remember?"

Jerdana giggled. "That is true my dear, but Paulina used to reside on Altador the day the spell was cast."

Kari looked at Leaf, who wasn't shocked at all that Lady Jerdana knows her real name.

"Other than that, she is a scholar that focuses on both astronomy _and _history." Jerdana continued.

"So it would be a shock if The Betrayer would forget about your mother…"

"True…" King Altador said, and the entire council nodded.

"We received word of her plan just before she was to put it into effect. It was too late to keep her from taking control of the kingdom, but not too late to preempt her magic with some of our own. It was his majesty's idea—"She smiles briefly at Altador. "-but I was the one who cast the spells. As Finneus correctly divined, there were two halves to the spell."

"The first half of the spell draped a veil across our memories of Altador's history, as well as hiding any writings pertaining to that history. The spell also erased the Betrayer's memory of her very own plan to rewrite our history. However, it did not erase her memory of having conquered Altador in the first place, for this was something she had secretly desired since before the kingdom was even founded."

"This is the spell you broke moments ago, by destroying the statue of the Betrayer. I embedded the power source for the spell within her statue, knowing that in her mad quest for glory, she would likely destroy all the statues in the Hall _except_ for her own."

"However, this meant that every citizen of Altador-including myself and the king-had lost our memories of not only Altador's storied past, but also our memories of having cast the spell entirely. Complicating things even more is the fact that none of us were even aware that anything was missing. But the very design of the puzzle ensured that someone such as yourselves would come across it and attempt to unravel the mystery." She grins at Finneus, who stands off to one side, looking abashed. "Our Archivist, alas, came to the wrong conclusion about me while you were solving the puzzle. I did indeed steal Altador's history, but for the noblest of causes."

King Altador nods. "Indeed. Fear not, Finneus, for we can hardly blame you for misapprehending such a unique and dire situation."

Finneus blushes, embarrassed. "Of course not, your majesty."

The three of us sighed in relief.

Jerdana goes on. "The necklace you found hidden within the city wall months ago was, as you guessed, the magical power source for the clues. As long as it remained undisturbed on its pedestal, it could reveal the clues one by one as they were solved. It did so by subtly manipulating both mind and matter; magically coercing certain citizens of Altador to undertake certain tasks, so as to provide you with the information necessary to solve the puzzle, as well as arranging physical objects, such as the clouds above Altador or the waves on the sea, to provide the three of you with the clues to find the constellations."

Finneus pipes up. "This heroes hasve acquitted themselves most capably in that regard, I must say." He smiles proudly at us.

"It was nothing really…" Leaf and Kari blushed, while I smiled.

"Indeed you have," Altador chuckles. "We will soon provide you with a choice of rewards for your service to the kingdom. You can return here to see whether those rewards are yet available."

Leaf shakes her head in disagreement. "No, we really don't deserve any rewards at all your majesty, we are just thankful that we were able to help."

"The three of you have saved Altador from a flash flood, you have taken care of a Vaeolus whose flames were extinguished, and finally you have regained every citizen of Altador's memory." King Altador started. "You have done more than enough than we can thank you for."

Jerdana nods, then examines us. "You have done a great thing, these past months," she says. "We can but hope that the Darkest Faerie is truly banished from our realm, including all she has wrought. Good journeys to you, and may the sun shine wherever you go."

We approached and then knelt to King Altador.

Altador then beams at us as we approach him. "So! We finally have a reward for your valiant efforts to restore the history of this great land." He smiles at us.  
"Nevertheless, we do have your rewards. Our treasury is quite full, and so we have decided to award you a tidy sum of Neopoints." He waves at Gordos, the Collector, who steps over to you, carrying a bulging bag.  
"Neopoints?" Leaf asked.  
Gordos glares at her. "I hate parting with such a large sum of money, but what Altador wants..." he grumbles then hands her the bag. "Here you go."

Leaf and Kari checks the bag of money, abacus on hand.

Leaf gasped. "5,000 Neopoints?"  
Gordos rolled his eyes and grumbles at the same time.

"Next," Altador says, "we've awarded Paulina this trophy."

Sasha hands Leaf and Kari a trophy with the words "Royal Astronomer" engraved.

Altador continued."Rise Paulina and Dawn, royal astronomers of Neopia." Leaf and Kari fainted right on the spot.

"Oh my…" Jerdana said as Leaf and Kari lay unconscious on the ground with me around them.

Apparently King Altador ordered Siyana to escort Leaf and Kari outside and let them rest at one of the Hall's rooms..

King Altador let out a cough to get our attention. "Anyway…we have a few items for you." He gave me a book. It was titled: "The Way Windmills Work" which I guessed Kari will read almost right away after she wakes up.

Next he handed me a Club President Super Plushie, then a Hall of Heroes Play Set and finally a Set of Four Commemorative Punch Club Pie Plates.

Altador smiles. "I hope that suffices. I regret that we couldn't provide more choice, but as I said, things are still a bit chaotic around here. And after all, this wasn't on the scale of what happened to the Lost Desert, or what will soon be happening in—" He stops. "Ahem. Nevermind."

"Well!" he continues. "You will always be welcome in Altador, and we will be eternally grateful for your services to us. Farewell for now."

"Wait King Altador." I said.

"What is it young neopet?" the King asked in confusion.

"Lady Jerdana mentioned that the Betrayer was sealed in an underwater prison, correct?"

"Why yes." Altador looks at Jerdana then shrugs.

"It's just that…when I was younger my elder brother Miragros and I went to fight in the Maraquan War."

"Did you fight with or against the Maraquans?" Kelland asks.

"Kelland!" Altador says then Kelland quieted down then turned his attention to me. "Go on…"

I coughed. "So while fighting _with_ the Maraquans I noticed there was a statue of a faerie, a _dark faerie_." The council looks at each other.

"She was also wearing a necklace that was real _exactly like the one we used on the Betrayer's statue_." The council has pale looks on their faces.

King Altador coughs after a long time of silence. "We shall speak of this tomorrow Barry Jun. So until then prepare yourself to tell the whole story to us."

"Yes your Highness." I bowed then headed outside with Finneus.

Something tells me tomorrow is going to be a long day…

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**A/N: Told you it was super long and please REVIEW!**


	4. Into the deep

**A/N: Sorry guys! But I have school so you guys need to be patient for the next few chapters!**

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**Leaf's POV**

"Leaf…" a tiny voice called. "Leaf, are you awake?'

"Five more minutes mom…" I murmured half asleep.

"Leaf, wake up." Another voice called.

"But its summer, I don't have to go to school." I murmured again.

The two voices sighed, then I heard them unzip something then they both yelled…

"**WAKE UP!**"

I woke up with a start. "What was that for?" I demanded. "And do you need to use the Trumpet of Blasting?"

"It was Jun's idea." Kari said.

Jun shrugged. "No choice."

I glared at both of them, then I noticed we weren't at the Hall of Heroes. "Why are we at Platina's house?"

"You and Kari passed out and since there weren't many rooms at the Hall Siyana brought you both here." Jun explained.

"So where's Platina?" I asked.

"At the kitchen." Jun said then put the trumpet back in the bag.

"Oh no…" I thought then bolted across the halls to the kitchen which was at the other side of the house. "Platina!"

"Oh, you're finally awake Leaf!" Platina says while stirring a pot of soup with Aqua at her side chewing a Tyrannian Bone.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"Cooking duh?" she said sarcastically.

"Yeah I know that!" I said as if she didn't know I was a scholar. "But why are you cooking?"

"Tried to stop her…" Aqua said then went back to chewing.

"The girls were hungry so…" The chicken catches on fire. "AHHH!"

Kari and Jun came a few minutes later.

"We smelled smoke and…Holy Jelly Beans!" Jun said when he saw the fire. "What in Neopia happened here?"

"Platina burned something idiot!" Kari said then used her ability Water Jet on the chicken.

"Yeah but what did she burn?" Jun said then used Quench.

"What in blazes is happening…Mother of Pearl!" Chris says as she enters the room. "What happened here?"

"Long story!" Aqua says then gets the fire extinguisher and gives it to me.

"Thanks Aqua!" I said then used the fire extinguisher.

_**30 minutes later…**_

**Jun's POV**

"The food's here!" Chris yelled as she opens the door for the pizza guy then takes the two boxes of Flaming Fire Faerie Pizzas.

"Here." Aqua said as she gives the pizza guy 100 neopoints.

"Well this reeks…" I complained as he puts hot sauce on my piece of pizza.

"Oh stop your complaining." Kari said as she takes a piece.

"It's a lot better than Platina's cooking though." Aqua says as she takes a bite of hers.

"So true…" Chris said then took a sip of her Green Apple Slushie.

"I second that." Leaf said then munched on her piece.

"Aww, come on!" Platina complained. "My cooking's not that bad!"

We all glared at her with a deadly look which just made her chew slowly and tried her best to ignore us.

After a few hours of playing Kacheekers and watching television we went to bed. But before I did I met with Leaf and Kari after I changed into my green pajamas.

"Hey you two…" I said after the two changed into their pajamas. As usual Leaf wore her yellow pajamas that had a Gelert snoozing and at the bottom read "Zzzzz", while Kari wore her red nightgown. "By the way King Altador wants to see us tomorrow and he said to get properly dressed."

The two just raised their eyebrows and shrugged then said goodnight then I lay on my bed for what was to come.

_**Tomorrow…**_

Well yes, yesterday was already frightening enough to see six of the heroes of Altador, but having all eleven in front of you in the council chamber will really take your breathe away. Everyone we met yesterday were on their thrones but almost all the thrones were occupied. Torakor "the Gladiator" sat next to Siyana. "The Farmer", Florin sat at Torakor's right. Psellia, the Dreamer sat in the middle of Sasha and Gordos. Then Fauna "the Gatherer sat next to Gordos and finally Marak "the Wave" sat at Altador's right.

We were all dressed as requested, Leaf was in my only beige robes and her hair was cascaded at her back and was a bit curled at the edge, Kari was wearing her scholarly robe and her pastel blue hair bow was tied at her right ear. Me? I was wearing my Shenkuu adventure tunic and boots with my sword in its scabbard on my belt.

Yeah and if you're wondering how it feels to be stared at by 11 powerful leaders it will probably feel like:

a) People staring at you like you're an alien from outer space and you just landed in a random person's backyard.

b) Your parents glaring at you when you have an "F" on your report card and need to go to summer school like Platina did back when she was preschool.

c) Everybody looking at someone who sees you wearing a winter coat in the middle of summer.

For short, not a good experience as it puts shivers down on your spine.

King Altador smiles at us as we approached him, so far everybody still staring at us that just made me force a weak smile as the three of us approached.

Now if there's something you should know about xweetoks it this: they hate Kougras. But it looks like King Altador didn't know that since he gifted us a yellow kougra plushie and what did Kari and Jun do? Ripped the Plushie into shreads that's what.

It's a good thing we kept our cool and destroyed it _after_ our meeting with the 11, so we just glared at the plushie like we're telling it to buzz off before you get destroyed.

King Altador coughed and broke the deadly silence which made Leaf sigh hopefully. "So are you ready now Barry Jun?"

"Ready for what?" Kari whispered in my ear.

"You'll find out soon enough…" I whispered back then looked at Altador. "May I start now your highness?"

"From the top." Altador commanded.

I took a deep breath then started. "Five years ago, during the Maraquan War, my brother Miragros and I joined forces with the Maraquans to fight off against Captain Scarblade." I paused at the name of "the Revenge's" captain. "So when I was crossing blades with a pirate, my sword was driven in the air and landed next to a stone statue of a dark faerie." The council frowned at the last sentence. "But I wasn't able to see much of her face since I was trying not to get my head sliced off….:"

"So that's the phase of things…" Altador bellowed. "Very well then! I shall send a message to King Kelpbeard regarding this situation immediately." He turned to Marak. "Marak and his troop shall head to New Maraqua as soon as possible!" he focused his attention back to me. "Will you help us to find the statue? You do remember where it is located correct?"

"Yes I do your majesty." I answered.

"Then you shall join us in our quest." He said.

"Wait." Leaf yelled. "If Jun is coming along then Kari and I will join the search as well."

"That's right." Kari said.

"Are you crazy?" I demanded. "You could get yourselves injured!"

"We're your family Jun! We can't just let you go running off!" Leaf said in my face.

"Besides, we really want to see the Maraquan ruins for ourselves."

"Oh please Jun!" Kari pleaded. "For me?"

"Fine."I hate it when she says that… "But only if King Altador agrees!"

They looked at King Altador pleadingly then he finally said. "Of course!"

The two of them cheered and I rolled my eyes.

_The next day…_

"Kari!" Leaf yelled standing outside the changing room, she was wearing a black swimsuit that covers her entire body from the neck downwards. "Are you done yet?"

"Almost finished!" Kari yelled back.

I sighed as I put my maractite sword which cuts as well on water as it does on land, on its scabbard. Then I hid two maractite daggers at the belt of my dark green swimsuit.

Leaf got tired of waiting for Kari so she slung her maractite bow at her shoulder then put some swift maractite darts in her waterproof bag that also serves as a belt (kinda like May's bag in Pokemon).

After fifteen minutes, Karin finally finished changing. Her hair was in a ponytail and her bow was slung at her back like Leaf, her maractite dagger at her archer's belt.

"Finally!" I said. "Come on! Marak and the others are waiting for us!" I ran to the exit then Kari and Leaf followed soon after with Leaf wearing a seaweed necklace that lets her breathe underwater. Then we plunged into the deep underwater shores that is New Maraqua…..

_At Kreludor…_

"So, they're planning to go to New Maraqua, eh?" Sloth says looking into a crystal ball. "Let's see about that! Vira!"

The Acara immediately stood next to him. "You called sire?"

"Send Scarblade a message immediately! Tell him that the friend of that foolish Usul has visited the city." Sloth says not takinh his eyes off the ball.

"As you wish sire." Vira said then went to a new room with another crystal ball in the middle. "Show me Captain Scarblade of the Revenge…" she said then an image of a green lupe appeared in the Crystal Ball.

"Argh! What is it Vira? I have a ship to operate!" the Lupe growled.

"So sorry to interrupt captain…" Vira started. "…but we have good news for you."

The lupe's ears twitched. "I'm listening…"

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**A/N: The battle is has begun...**


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